The shipping industry typically packages items into groups that can be supported on a pallet for transportation from one location to another location. A single large item or multiple smaller items are positioned on a pallet which has openings configured to receive forks or tines from a forklift, pallet jack or other piece of bulk handling equipment. Once the bulk handling equipment is positioned relative to the pallet, the forks or tines are lifted whereby the pallet and the items thereon are lifted. During the loading procedure, the loading area must be large enough for the pallet to be positioned and also for the bulk handling equipment to position relative thereto. As such, the items to be transported must be stored in this large area or moved to this area, typically by carrying the items or loading and unloading the items on an intermediate mover, for example a dolly or hand truck. The additional loading and unloading adds time and cost in additional labor.
Once the pallet is loaded, it may then be moved via the bulk handling equipment from the loading area to a transportation unit, for example a truck, train car or cargo ship. Once the transportation unit reaches its destination, another piece of bulk handling equipment must be used to unload the pallet from the transportation unit and move it to its final destination. In some instances, the bulk handling equipment may not be available, in which case the items may have to be unloaded one at a time and moved to the final location. In some cases, even when the bulk handling equipment is available, the destination may not have room for the bulk handling equipment to maneuver to the final location for the items, so again, it is necessary to remove the items from the pallet and then transport them to the final location.